Humboldt is growing and the population is diversifying.
To address that, two local women are starting a local chapter of PFLAG - Parents and Friends for Lesbians and Gays.
Sarah Miller and her partner, Neva MacKay of Humboldt are the ones who decided to get this group together here.
PFLAG is Canada's only national organization for supporting anyone who has gender or sexual identity issues, or who has issues with other people's gender or sexual identity.
It's more of a support group, she said, for people who are struggling with their own sexual identity, for parents who have concerns about their children's sexuality, or for anyone who has someone in their life - a coworker, a friend, a relative - who is gay, lesbian, bi- or pan-sexual.
PFLAG provides someone to talk to, 24/7, Miller said. The meetings they hold are a safe environment to have open conversations and support one another.
There could be angry parents at a meeting, not understanding their child's sexuality, she said. The organization would be there to help them understand, to give them information.
They don't knock on doors, Miller said - but when asked, they can provide information for those who need it.
"We will be there as a resource," she noted.
Miller considers herself pansexual - that is, it's the person itself she is attracted to, their gender is not important.
Now that she and her partner have a seven-month-old son, she wants the community to feel more comfortable with her and her family.
Miller says she knows of some people who were gay or lesbians who moved away from Humboldt because of issues they had here. A friend of Miller's was actually beaten and had his car vandalized because of his sexuality.
There is not a lot of diversity in Humboldt, she noted - not like there is in larger places like Saskatoon.
"If there were more (gay or lesbian) people here, it's easier for the community and (for someone themselves) to accept it," she said. "A lot of people here are afraid to be themselves.... The more people we have (in PFLAG), the safer, more confident they will feel."
They are not going to try to change anyone's beliefs, she noted - the Roman Catholic faith is strong here, and that faith has particular objections to homosexuality.
"But I'm not going to hide who I am. I have no reason to. I don't want to throw it in people's faces," she stated, but she doesn't want to lie about who she is.
And she wants PFLAG in the community to help people who have different sexual identities.
Kids are being bullied because of their sexuality, she noted - bullying is actually on the rise in this country right now. And those kids being bullied are often killing themselves.
Miller believes more information and understanding could help eliminate bullying.
Her son, she said, is going to go to school here, and that's one of the reasons she wanted to start a PFLAG chapter now.
"I want him to know it's okay he has two moms," she said.
Eventually, she said, she hopes that through PFLAG, people will feel enough support that "everyone will feel comfortable to be themselves."
The Facebook page for the organization already had 60 likes just a few days after it was created, Miller said, so the response so far has been good. She's hoping to hold the group's first official meeting in April.
There is no age limit to PFLAG. Anyone of any age can come to meetings.
Miller feels the organization and acceptance in the community of a group like PFLAG will be good for Humboldt's aspirations.
"If we want to be a big city, we have to be open to change, be diverse. We can't expect people to conform..... Humboldt is growing. We need to accept new people coming in, accept that change," she noted.
Getting an organization like this one accepted in Humboldt may be an uphill battle, she said, but it's necessary.
"I don't want children to grow up and not feel themselves. They shouldn't feel... they have to move away.... or close themselves off from the world because they are gay."
The first meeting for PFLAG will be held at Westminster United Church in Humboldt. The date will be announced on Facebook and in posters throughout town.
